RUSSIAN-born Perth-based boxer Victor Oganov may be a devoted family man, but you won’t see his beloved wife Svetlana and two children ringside on fight night.
“It is an additional pressure for me,” he said.
“I worry about them because they’re nervous, so it’s easier for me if they’re not there.”
The 32-year-old – who made a permanent move to Australia from St Petersburg in 2005 – has fought his way to the top four of Foxtel’s reality television show The Contender Australia, based on the successful American series hosted by Sylvester Stallone.
The Australian version centres on 14 professional super-middleweight boxers as they live, train and compete together for the ultimate prize of a fight with Anthony Mundine, which carries a $250,000 purse for the contender.
Oganov entered the show as a favourite, having trained with former Russian-Australian champion Kostya Tszyu and Jeff Fenech, and claimed the WBO Asia-Pacific and Pan Asian Boxing Association super-middleweight belts last year.
While he has furthered his career in Australia, it is in Russia that he developed his fearless, yet disciplined mentality.
Oganov was born in Syktyvkar, a “very cold and wild” regional city about 1500km from Moscow, where the current temperature is 40-below zero.
His late father – himself a former boxer – trained his son from the age of 15, though Oganov says he was not pushed into the sport.
“I started wrestling and judo, but wasn’t happy,” he said.
“When I tried boxing, I started to feel a good connection.”
The Contender Australia screens on FOX8 on Mondays at 7.30pm. The live finale will air on January 11.